Global Food Distribution & Famine - AP Human Geography

99% of the world's undernourished people can be found in developing countries.

In developed countries, 5% of workers are directly involved in farming. Agricultural production is still high with a low amount of workers because of the technology and machinery used to farm.

The statement is true. Global food production has been high enough to feed everyone on the planet for some time now. Although the percent of hungry people has fallen, hunger has not been eliminated. This is in large part due to poverty and unjust distribution of food, not excessive waste or poor quality.

“Food security” is a term used by agricultural geographers to refer to the ability of a population or a social community to reliably access enough nutrition to survive and flourish. People who do not know where their next meals are coming from are called “food insecure.”

Esther Boserup is a famous agricultural geographer. Her theory is based on the premise that population growth is a positive force in agricultural innovation, that it drives technology forward. According to Boserup as a society develops and progresses it uses its agricultural land more and more efficiently.

All of these countries have relatively few people employed in agriculture except China. In China almost half the country is employed in agricultural work, although this proportion is declining rapidly as China industrializes and urbanizes at unprecedented rates. Still, much of China’s massive population remains rural and tied to farming work.

In Esther Boserup’s model of agricultural geography as a society progresses and population grows it uses its agricultural land more and more efficiently. According to Boserup the primary means by which this is achieved is by reducing the amount of time that agricultural land is left fallow. In the fifth and final stage of Boserup’s model land is hardly ever left fallow, or crops are constantly rotated in order to retain nutrients in the soil.

The term “food security” is used to differentiate between people who have access to enough food to remain healthy and active, and those who lack access to sufficient amounts of food. The former group is called “food secure,” the latter group is called “food insecure.”

In all countries in Sub-Saharan Africa for which data is available more than two-thirds of the population is engaged in agricultural work. This is the highest for any region in the world, although Southeast Asia and regions of Oceania are also extremely high. As a general rule the poorer the country the more people who will be employed in agricultural labor.

In the 1930s between thirty and forty percent of Americans were employed in agricultural work. By the 1970s that number had fallen to less than five percent. This dramatic shift had many causes, but the most notable included the following: rapid mechanization, urbanization, and the global Green Revolution.

Esther Boserup is a notable agricultural geographer whose most well-known theory provides a direct counter-argument to Malthus’ conclusions about population growth. Boserup argues that population growth is a positive force because it encourages agricultural innovation and the design of new technology in order to allow fewer people to produce a larger quantity of goods.

Food Security is defined by the United Nations (UN) as the above mentioned definition in the question. According to the UN, about one-eighth of the world currently does not have food security. This means that they do not have enough access to food to support a nutritious and healthy style for the population in the region. The most undernourished region of the world is Africa, specifically the Sahel region where famine is a severe threat.

The following are the definitions of the other terms given as answer choices for this question.

Dietary Energy Consumption: The amount of food that an individual consumes.

Commercial Agriculture: A form of agriculture undertaken in order to generate products for sale off of the farm in order to make a profit.

The Green Revolution: A rapid diffusion of new agricultural technology, especially new high-yield seeds and fertilizers, and other equipment to make farming more efficient and profitable.

Intensive subsistence agriculture: A form of subsistence agriculture in which farmers expend a relatively large amount of effort to produce the maximum yield from a piece of land.

A milkshed refers to an area surrounding the milk source (dairy farm) where milk is supplied without spoiling. Depending on transportation methods, the milkshed will vary in size.

The statement is true. Global food production has been high enough to feed everyone on the planet for some time now. Although the percent of hungry people has fallen, hunger has not been eliminated. This is in large part due to poverty and unjust distribution of food, not excessive waste or poor quality.

“Food security” is a term used by agricultural geographers to refer to the ability of a population or a social community to reliably access enough nutrition to survive and flourish. People who do not know where their next meals are coming from are called “food insecure.”

Esther Boserup is a famous agricultural geographer. Her theory is based on the premise that population growth is a positive force in agricultural innovation, that it drives technology forward. According to Boserup as a society develops and progresses it uses its agricultural land more and more efficiently.

All of these countries have relatively few people employed in agriculture except China. In China almost half the country is employed in agricultural work, although this proportion is declining rapidly as China industrializes and urbanizes at unprecedented rates. Still, much of China’s massive population remains rural and tied to farming work.

In Esther Boserup’s model of agricultural geography as a society progresses and population grows it uses its agricultural land more and more efficiently. According to Boserup the primary means by which this is achieved is by reducing the amount of time that agricultural land is left fallow. In the fifth and final stage of Boserup’s model land is hardly ever left fallow, or crops are constantly rotated in order to retain nutrients in the soil.

The term “food security” is used to differentiate between people who have access to enough food to remain healthy and active, and those who lack access to sufficient amounts of food. The former group is called “food secure,” the latter group is called “food insecure.”